Green Man Gaming are running a nice sub-£5 price for Borderlands' definitive edition, which includes all of the absolutely excellent DLC packs (and even the lame one, Underdome Riot). This will also net you 10% off Borderlands 2 (Steam code) if you pre-order on GMG.

All Systems Go For Mechromancer DLC

Borderlands 2 is now totally finished, Gearbox announced today, and has entered certification with platform holders. Now that the base game is out of their hands, Gearbox are free to focus on DLC, specifically the post-launch Mechromancer class.

We've long stopped trying to hide our excitement for Borderlands 2. Every time we preview it or interview key personnel, Gearbox's upcoming FPSRPG reveals new features, bigger guns and more insane characters. However, after getting to grips with a brand new build last week, we yearned to know more: how will the new persistent Badass Ranking system work? Will Borderlands 2 launch on Wii U? As much as anything, will we get a decent ending this time?!

So who better to ask than the co-founder of Gearbox, Chief Creative Officer and Borderlands 2 executive producer Brian Martel? Tracking him down in a pub close to the hands-on preview event, I proceeded to quiz him over a swift half.

Jonathan Lester (Dealspwn): When the original Borderlands was in development, a number of pundits and analysts reckoned that you were entirely mad - that you were "sending it to die." As it turned out, you kicked their asses: critics and players loved Borderlands. So, how does it feel to be working on the sequel?

Brian Martel (Gearbox): It feels amazing. Look, this is something that we're extremely passionate about. We love this franchise: it's a great world to play around in. We're shooter people at our core and we really love Role-Playing games, so mixing the two has been really fun.

2K Taking A "Wait And See" Approach

Gearbox believes that Borderlands 2 would be a "fantastic" fit for the Wii U, though publisher 2K will apparently be taking a "wait and see" approach when it comes to potentially porting the FPSRPG over to Nintendo's new console.

Finale Will Atone For "Tentacles And Disappointment"

According to Gearbox co-founder Brian Martel, Borderlands 2 will offer its players a "decent," "compelling reward" as an end-game finale - and Gearbox have learned some valuable lessons from the "tentacles and disappointment" of the original.

Borderlands 2 keeps getting better every time we see it. Barely a fortnight after showing off a new build at E3 2012, Gearbox turned up in London with an even newer, shinier one that showed off those promised PC features and resolutions to advantage. It's as crisp and colourful as it is thoroughly badass, but it turns out that our hour spent exploring the town of Sanctuary, customising our characters and collecting crumpets for an insane thirteen year old demolitions expert didn't give us much time to marvel at the graphics.

Before we even had time to sit down, however, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford had something new to show us. Borderlands 2 will feature a profile-specific metagame known as 'Badass Rankings,' which effectively allows players to level up right along with their characters. Everything you do, every challenge you complete, will gradually unlock Badass Ranks linked to your player profile - and in turn provides persistent stat boosts that will affect all of your classes regardless of their level. There's no Badass Rank level cap, so even players who've sunk hundreds of hours into the game and completed the campaign countless times will still be able to work towards becoming the ultimate Borderlands 2 player on the leaderboards. If you thought the original Borderlands was addictive, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Handsome Jack and his Hyperion corporation may have assumed dominance over Pandora (thanks mainly to their advanced repurposed technology and looming moon base), but the natives are getting restless. An armed resistance opposes the charismatic megalomaniac at every turn, led by none other than Roland, the soldier from the original game. Helped by Lillith and Mordekai, these so-called Crimson Raiders hunker down in the humble town of Sanctuary, which players will call home for much of the adventure.

Please be aware that the following preview contains some spoilers and so many crunk crumpets that it's going to be a crumpocalpse. Tiny Tina's words, not mine.

"People Are Going To Be Surprised"

We were slightly concerned when we noticed that Brothers In Arms: Furious 4 missed E3, leading us to speculate whether Gearbox's gung-ho WW2 shooter might have run into serious problems. However, according to outspoken Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, the project has "evolved," and will 'surprise' us when it finally releases.

Borderlands 2 will feature a much more robust cosmetic character editing suite, letting players equip their avatars with different skins, costumes and facial types. According to a new promotional poster (below), players of the original Borderlands will unlock exclusive heads and skins to use in the sequel.

Get Games are once again willing to part with Borderlands, the outstanding multiplayer loot-grinding FPS, for less than two quid. I'd personally actually suggest holding out for a deal on the GOTY Edition (which includes all of the DLC), but if you don't want the extras, you can't quibble with the price.

Input voucher code REZZED02 to receive the discount - and note that this isn't a Steam key.

Gearbox has released a few new screenshots for Aliens: Colonial Marines, showing off the Marines vs Xenomorph multiplayer, Smart Gun GUI and plenty of snarling Geiger-inspired beasties.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a direct sequel to Aliens, and is shaping up nicely if our Randy Pitchford demo walkthrough was anything to go by. Look out for it this Autumn on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.

"We're Expanding On All Fronts"

After playing Borderlands 2 at the recent first look hands-on preview event, I was lucky enough to corner Gearbox concept artist Kevin Duc for a chat about the anticipated 'FPSRPG' sequel. As well as discussing development, new features, drop-in multiplayer and badass shenanigans, Duc was also more than happy to talk about the inspirations behind Borderlands' art design - everything from iPods, airplanes and the Scottish Highlands.

Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our in-depth hands-on preview.

Jonathan Lester (Dealspwn):Thanks for talking to us. First of all, could you introduce yourself to our readership?

Dealspwn: Excellent. Right, let's get cracking. The original Borderlands was the very definition of a 'sleeper hit.' It released without expectations, analysts looked properly stupid, gamers loved it and us critics were mad for it. Did you expect Borderlands to be such a huge success?

Kevin Duc: You know, we were really excited with how gamers responded to the game. We're very aware that people love this game and they have huge expectations for Borderlands 2, and for us to provide that kind of rich experience again.

Robots, Varkids, Skags & Bulldozers

In the first part of our Borderlands 2 preview, we covered the Siren's deadly new class skills, the revamped interface and the all-important boomsticks. However, our hands-on time with Gearbox's upcoming sequel introduced us to Pandora's new and deadly selection of foes and natural hazards - running the gamut from cutting edge robots to disgusting polyp-extruding Varkid. When we last left our heroes (or more accurately, me playing as the Siren Maya backed up by a Gunzerker), the veteran Hunter Mordekai tasked us with rescuing his beloved pet Bloodwing from the clutches of Handsome Jack's Hyperion Corporation.

Bloodwing was secreted away in a fortified wildlife reserve, but to get there, we had to fight our way through a Hyperion staging area. The industrial titan boasts a range of re-purposed mining robots deployed from their moon base headquarters, with several different variants that pose unique challenges when encountered in a group. Menacing yellow PWR Loaders (somewhat obviously) resemble automated Power Loaders from Aliens, but sport wicked helicopter-like blades on each arm that spin at massive speeds, deflecting incoming firepower unless you're able to flank or Phaselock them during their slow yet relentless advance.

There ain't no rest for the wicked. Far from receiving a hero's welcome after destroying the greatest threat Pandora has ever known, the original four vault hunters became wanted criminals as Handsome Jack and his Hyperion Corporation took credit for their monumental achievement. The corporate juggernaut is now a powerful private army led by an egomaniacal madman with a fake face disturbingly stapled to his cranium, and it's up to a new quartet of heroes to assist their predecessors and take back Pandora.

As Borderlands fans to a man (it's an office favourite), we've been desperate to learn more about the sequel ever since we saw it in action last year... and naturally jumped at the chance to get a first hands-on with the anticipated 'FPSRPG.' Suffice to say that after rigourously testing Borderlands 2 for an hour, I had to be physically prised off of the controller by two burly 2K reps and a Bandit cosplayer, desperately pleading for more time all the while.

But you didn't come here for the breathless blithering of a starstruck fan. You browsed over to Dealspwn.com for a rigorous, play-by-play stripdown of sixty minutes of contact time. You're here to learn about the Siren's skills, the powerful new enemies, returning characters and surprising new environments, illustrated with brand new screenshots. And we'll deliver - so much, in fact, that we've had to split the article into two parts. Let's do this thing.

Randy Pitchford has explained the reasoning behind the delays that have pushed Aliens: Colonial Marines back this year, noting that he's wanted to fulfil the studio's vision for the game over any pressing need to meet deadlines, acknowledging though that there have been inflexible development aims along the way.

I was utterly blown away when Randy Pitchford walked me through Aliens: Colonial Marines at E3 2011... and you can now have a look at the exact same footage for yourself. Albeit in a fragmented, heavily-edited and compartmentalised way.

In stark comparison to last week's trailer, this one shows off genuine gameplay footage and the impressive lighting to devastating advantage. Colonial Marines has been delayed into the Autumn, and we're fervently hoping that it will deliver on its promise: to provide a true Aliens sequel. Preview here.

Aliens: Colonial Marines has been in the pipeline for what seems like forever and has suffered from a truly torturous development cycle. It now appears that the anticipated shooter has been delayed into the Autumn according to a contradictory listing on SEGA's official website - which was subsequently confirmed by Gearbox despite the site reverting back to the original Spring launch window. Confusing, but almost certainly happening. [Thanks, TSA]

This is mostly such painful news that I'm not even willing to make an Aliens pun or reference, mostly. Check out our Randy Pitchford guided tour if you want the next few months to just crawl by.

The hype train has had many stops this year, some good, others less so. We've seen big companies laid low through their own lack of caution, undermined by smack talk, and the best laid plans revealed to be sorely misjudged. In terms of games, we've had darlings of the press - games that have won critics over through previews and interviews, buffet spreads and bright lights - only for the end product to be rather lacking.

In the midst of our Game of the Year Season, it is only right the we look back and reflect for a moment upon some of the disappointments of the past twelve months. It should be noted that the games that make this list aren't necessarily bad (although one or two are), but rather proved to dash our hopes in some way. We weren't necessarily cross...just disappointed.

Though there's room for both at the top end.

10. We Dare

Forget Dead Island...anyone who finds themselves disappointed by a game on the grounds of a CG trailer only has themselves to blame. The worst culprit of any sort of trailer fiasco this year probably has to go to We Dare. Did we get a raunchy party game for adults? No. Did we get girl-on-girl spanking? No. Were PEGI right to give the game a 12+ rating? Yes. The mainstream press went nuts, with the Daily Fail as usual doing absolutely no research into the actual game; but the disconnect between the trailer and the actual game was pertinent. At the end of the day, We Dare failed to launch in this country, with reports from across the Channel being that the game was about as sexy as Salacious Crumb.

9. X-Men Destiny

What was it that Silicon Knights did with that multi-million dollar bankroll from the Canadian government? Well it can't all have gone on X-Men Destiny? Can it? Really? Oh dear. Having an X-Men game in which you can't actually play as any of the X-Men was a warning from the start...the awful combat and mind-numbingly boring missions didn't help. We knew it was going to be bad, just not this bad, hence the low position on the list.

Goddamn, but this is cheap. While there are deals for the GOTY edition floating around that can net you all of Borderlands' DLC, Get Games are willing to part with the base game for less than two quid. It's got to be worth a shot, right?

Duke Nukem Forever is finally out. We lived to see a pivotal event in gaming history unfold before our unbelieving eyes... though the end result certainly failed to set the critical world on fire. Fans, however, rave about its imaginative pacing and set pieces - as well as the big, bold and unashamedly balls-out action.

And it's now £7.99 until tomorrow evening. Which is good value as far as I'm concerned.